2 firefighters killed in Idaho sniper ambush, officials say : NPR
Police and firefighters respond to a shooting and fires on the mountain of Canfield at the heart of Alene, Idaho, Sunday, June 29, 2025.
Kathy Plonka / Le Spoyans Revue / AP
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Kathy Plonka / Le Spoyans Revue / AP
Local authorities said that a man armed with a rifle had triggered a fire on a mountain in northern Idaho, then started shooting on respondent firefighters, killing two and injuring a third.
In addition, the authorities of the county of Kootenai, Idaho, said that the body of the man recovered from the mountain would be the only suspect responsible for fatal shots. A weapon was found near the body, said the Sheriff of the County of Kootenai, Bob Norris.
Norris also clearly indicated that he and other authorities thought that the shots were intentional.
“We believe that the suspect triggered the fire, it was an ambush and it was completely intentional,” said Norris. “It was a total ambush. These firefighters had no chance.
Norris added: “Based on the preliminary investigation, we think he is the only shooter on the mountain at the time. There is no threat to the community at that time.”
Earlier Sunday, local authorities had raised an shelter order on site.
Speaking at a press conference late on Sunday evening, Norris said that a mobile phone signal had led the authorities to discover the corpse.
The authorities crossed a calendar of fatal events on Sunday: Sunday:
– At 1:21 p.m. local time, the first reports of a forest fire on Canfield Mountain
– 2 hours, the firefighters said for the first time under gunshots
– Around 3:15 p.m., the authorities picked up an active mobile phone signal on the mountain.
– Norris said that the body of the person who would be the suspect of shooting had been found about an hour and a half later.
Norris and other authorities have not given any information on identifying the dead body or any possible reason for the shots. Norris did not say that the dead had died fatally.
“We believe that there was only one shooter, based on the weapons found, the type of injury suffered by this weapon,” said Norris.
The sheriff also said that the investigators did not think that the suspect of shooting is the one who appealed 911 to report the fire.
Norris said the investigators thought the suspect took place and shot the attack on firefighters. At the press conference, local authorities also said that firefighters were not trained to respond to ambush situations.
Norris added: “This is a situation where many people in this room did not deal with this.”
Earlier Sunday, the governor of Idaho, Brad Little, said that the firefighters had been “attacked by responding to a fire in northern Idaho”. In an article on X, the governor said: “This is a odious direct assault on our brave firefighters.”
Norris said the investigation would resume on Monday morning. More weapons can be found from the investigation, he said.
The sheriff acknowledged that the crime scene was compromised due to the fire, but they prioritize the withdrawal of the corpse for a more in -depth investigation. “We had to do what we had to do to preserve the body.”
